English football defeats Peabody

LYNN – English (5-3, 1-1) used a couple of big scoring runs from running back Isaiah Davis and a punt return by Alex Ortega for a touchdown to defeat Peabody, 34-0, at Manning Field on Friday.Davis opened the scoring in the second quarter when he took a handoff and made a cut to the right on a Peabody defender before he ran into the end zone. The touchdown went for 31 yards and it was all the Bulldogs needed.”He went over 1,000 yards for the year,” said Lynn English head coach Peter Holey. “Obviously, that’s a milestone for the team as well as Isaiah.”After English forced the Tanners (0-8, 0-2) to punt from the Bulldogs’ 38, Ortega caught the ball at the 10-yard line. He immediately went up toward the left side of the field before a host of Peabody special teamers were there to stop him on a short gain. Ortega turned around and was able to run along the right sideline. He broke a tackle deep in Peabody territory before he reached the goal line to put English ahead 14-0 late in the second quarter.When the teams came back for the second half, English fumbled on a muffed handoff and Peabody recovered at the English 26. English’s defense held the Tanners on downs at the 19. On the following play, Davis burst through the line of scrimmage for an 81-yard touchdown to give English a commanding 20-0 advantage early in the third quarter.”He’s a big play back and he runs hard,” said Holey.On English’s next drive, quarterback Lucas Harris threw a 40-yard pass to wide receiver Keenan Benton. Two plays later, Harris and Benton connected in the left corner of the end zone for a 6-yard score.Harris tossed another touchdown pass to Cam Haggarty in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.English played sloppy at times with two fumbles and D.J. Mullen threw an interception on the first drive of the game.”I’m as unhappy with the 34-0 win as I could be because I feel we need to certainly play a lot better next Friday night,” said Holey.The Peabody defense was able to keep the game scoreless through the opening period. They forced a fumble at the Tanners 1-yard line and they recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback early in the second quarter.Tanners signal-caller Michael Raymond was 6-of-11 passing for 47 yards.”Michael made some really good plays, but we need to get more disciplined with our route-running,” said Peabody head coach Matt O’Brien. “We are deep into the season and guys need to get to the spots where they need to be.”English looks to improve its play for its next game against Masconomet as the Bulldogs try to keep pace in the Division 1A Northeastern Conference.